Supreme Court to probe collusion at Gandhi school
Supreme Court to probe collusion at Gandhi school
JAKARTA (JP): The Supreme Court has set up a team to
investigate alleged collusion between a prominent judge and a
defendant in a document-fraud case involving Rp 1.4 billion
(US$599,000).
Deputy Chief Justice for Military Tribunals Sarwata has been
assigned to head the team, according to Secretary-general of the
Supreme Court Toton Suprapto.
Toton said it was senior judge Samsoeddin Aboebakar, who
presided over the document fraud case involving Indian citizen
Ram Gulumal, who asked for a thorough investigation, he said.
The alleged collusion came to the surface after the latest
edition of the Forum Keadilan bi-weekly magazine disclosed a
"secret" letter from deputy Chief Justice for General Crimes Adi
Andojo Soetjipto.
In his letter, Adi asked the Central Jakarta Prosecutor's
Office to review the Supreme Court's decision acquitting Ram
Gulumal of charges of unlawful land procurement for the
construction of the Indian Gandhi Memorial International School
in Ancol, North Jakarta.
The magazine reported that Gulumal's release had sparked
controversy among senior judges because there were indications
that the judge presiding over the case had received a bribe of Rp
1.4 billion.
Adi Andojo has also reportedly asked the Jakarta Provincial
Prosecutors Office to delay the implementation of the Supreme
Court's decision.
The Supreme Court released Gulumal last July, saying in its
verdict that the charges of falsifying documents could not be
proved.
Gulumal, 57, an Indian national who came to Indonesia in 1957,
was a former principal of the first Gandhi Memorial School
located in Pasar Baru, Central Jakarta. The school was founded by
the Bombay Merchants Association in 1950.
In 1966, the school was put under the auspices of the Indian
Embassy in line with Indonesian regulations on schools for
foreigners.
In 1973, Gulumal sent an application to the Jakarta governor
to buy 10,000 square meters of land in Ancol, North Jakarta. He
later built a new school on the land which he named the Gandhi
Memorial International School.
Fraud
The document fraud during the establishment of the new school
was only revealed in 1991 by the new management of the
Association, which controls the management of the Indian school.
Gulumal was sentenced by the Central Jakarta District Court in
1993 to one year in prison for falsifying documents when he
procured the land and obtained permits for establishing the new
school.
The prosecutors also charged him for illegally using the name
of the Gandhi Memorial School to collect funds for the new school
from members of the Bombay Merchants Association.
The verdict was upheld by the Jakarta High Court but the
sentence was reduced to eight months imprisonment.
Meanwhile, chief spokesman for the Attorney General's Office
Pontas Pasaribu said his office had ordered the Central Jakarta
Prosecutor's Office and the Jakarta Provincial Prosecutor's
Office to study the possibility of filing for a court review.
"Both offices have been instructed to study the legal aspects
of asking for a court review," he said yesterday. (imn)